10 Indicted, Accused Of Diploma Fraud At Upstate College

Court documents show they “allegedly devised and executed a scheme to defraud and obtain money and property by means of false pretense and executing the scheme caused financial aid checks to be sent to ineligible participants for personal financial gain.”

Fiasha Paul and Brittany Jennings were employees at Piedmont Technical College and their duties involved monitoring the supervision of Compass placement testing at the Abbeville campus. Prospective students who do not earn a minimum score on the Compass test are not eligible for federal aid.

B.) Two of the defendants, Fiasha Paul and Brittany Jennings took the Compass Test for prospective students. They also allowed other people to take the test for prospective students.

C.) Angela Thomas created fraudulent high school diplomas for people seeking admission to Piedmont Technical College and mailed the diplomas to the school.

E.) Hamilton, Tarshikia Pickens, Plumer, Brenda Pickens, Marshall and one other defendant who has not been named did not desire to further their education, but wanted to obtain financial aid checks that they could use to obtain money to pay for personal expenses.

F.) Piedmont Technical College issued over $50,000 in checks used to benefit the conspiracy.

Posted: September 11, 2012

Charges have been filed against an Upstate student who is accused of faking her high school diploma.

The charges against Equnna Nicole Miller, 27, come during an investigation into financial aid fraud at Piedmont Technical College.

Spokesman Josh Black says Miller was awarded a $9,500 student loan and a $2,775 federal grant last year. The student was caught before she received any money this year.

According to officials, Miller was taking classes PTC’s Abbeville campus, but was kicked out after officials discovered the alleged fraud.

The student faces charges of forgery and falsifying or altering a transcript.

Nine other people are being investigated for diploma fraud. The school says some are current students and others have dropped out of school.

“We want everyone to know that Piedmont Technical College will not tolerate this kind of behavior,” said Dr. Ray Brooks, president of PTC. “We will prosecute anyone found guilty of fraud to the full extent of the law.”